Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Marietta,Georgia commemorates 150th anniversary of massive 1864 war crime by Union Army

During the Civil War, Marietta, GA had two textile mills that were making uniform for the Confederate Army. General Sherman, one of the worst war criminals in US history, was not satisfied with burning down the mills. Even though most of the employees were women and children, he ordered the employees arrested and deported to concentration camps in the north. Most were never seen again.

General Sherman was a sadistic monster who wrote about his intense hatred for all southerners, both black and white. He had served time in a mental institute and was a known lunatic. Sherman was widely denounced as “a lunatic” and “crazy” by leading newspapers in the north.

This weekend, remember those who are forgotten. On Saturday, July 9, at 9 a.m., GO! to the Walk for the Women, part of the 150th Civil War Commemoration in Marietta. The event is a re-enactment of the arrest and sending north of 400 women and children from Roswell Mills and Sweetwater Manufacturing Company.

The event begins at Brumby Hall, 500 Powder Springs Street, just south of the historic Marietta Square, next to the Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center. Volunteers, some in period costume, will walk to Atherton Square (the large courtyard area behind the Marietta Square between the Marietta History Museum and the Welcome Center).

A program will follow the walk at Atherton Square with lecturer and historian Mike Shaffer, a former professor at Kennesaw State University along with re-enactor, historian and author Brad Quinlan. Connie Sutherland, Director of Gone With the Wind Museum and Tourism Projects Coordinator for City of Marietta, will read a letter written by a child whose mother was part of the walk.

Women, children and some men who worked at Sweetwater and Roswell Mills were arrested in July 1864 for treason at Sherman’s orders. The mills were producing materials that made Confederate uniforms. When Sherman found out the mills were operational, he ordered the workers arrested and mills closed and burned.

“These women were arrested simply by doing their jobs and trying to keep food on the table,” Sutherland said.

The women were taken by foot and ordered to march from Roswell and Lithia Springs area to the Georgia Military Institute, where the Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center now stands. From there they were brought to Atherton Square in Marietta and put on trains for deportation north.

“Many (of the women) were never heard of again and never able to return to their homes or see their families again,” Sutherland said.